A new Illinois State online news hub will make it easier to publish and share stories, photos, and videos about the University’s students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
News.IllinoisState.edu, which launched October 12, is the University’s new one-stop shop for those looking to know what’s happening at Illinois State. The website features content from contributing units across campus, including Media Relations and University Marketing and Communications (UMC). Readers will be able to find articles they’re interested in based on their favorite topics, publications, or campus units.
News.IllinoisState.edu is a relaunched version of a previous campus website called Stories. The new website’s design, spearheaded by Web and Interactive Communications (WEB), is optimized for readers who use mobile devices and makes it even easier to share articles on social media.
“We wanted to make it easy for readers to find what they were looking for and have a great experience with each article, whether they’re reading on a phone, a tablet, or desktop,” said Arturo Ramirez, director of WEB. “The new design also gives content creators a new, flexible toolkit to better present their stories, with bigger photos, one-click buttons, and other features.”
While the University’s homepage is a front door for prospective students, News.IllinoisState.edu is Illinois State’s first online hub for campus news. Readers will be able to follow University news, hear about new Points of Pride, discover stories about standout students and alumni, and learn about campus events.
News.IllinoisState.edu will also be home to several existing university publications, such as Illinois State alumni magazine, the faculty-staff e-newsletter Report, and the new research magazine Redbird Scholar.
The site makes it easy for readers to find articles about topics that most interest them, such as alumni news, diversity, or research. Articles can be fed automatically to other websites across campus.
“We’re very pleased by this cross-campus effort to produce a central hub for Illinois State news stories,’’ said Brian Beam, executive director of University Marketing and Communications. “This team effort has produced a product that is truly reader-focused, allowing alumni and friends to stay up-to-date with Illinois State.’’
The News.IllinoisState.edu homepage will be curated daily by Media Relations, highlighting the most important stories of the day from across campus. Reporters and editors from traditional media outlets can also use the new website to find story ideas and expert sources to assist with their own work.
“Readers, both on and off campus, will find the new central news hub a valuable resource for stories highlighting teaching, scholarship, and service, said Eric Jome, director of Media Relations. “Its depth and breadth of content, and ease of use, make News.IllinoisState.edu a powerful tool for telling the Illinois State story.”
All articles posted to News.IllinoisState.edu will route through a team of editors from UMC and Media Relations. Illinois State units looking to become contributors to News.IllinoisState.edu should contact UMC.
